Word Direct Answers

What does "embrace" mean?

Embrace: To clasp in the arms with affection; to take in the arms; to hug. I will embrace him with a soldier's arm, That he shall shrink under my courtesy. Shak. Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them. Acts xx.

Additional senses

  1. 2.2. To cling to; to cherish; to love. Shak.
  2. 3.To seize eagerly, or with alacrity; to accept with cordiality; to welcome. "I embrace these conditions." "You embrace the occasion." Shak. What is there that he may not embrace for truth Locke.
  3. 4.To encircle; to encompass; to inclose. Low at his feet a spacious plain is placed, Between the mountain and the stream embraced. Denham.
  4. 5.To include as parts of a whole; to comprehend; to take in; as, natural philosophy embraces many sciences. Not that my song, in such a scanty space, So large a subject fully can embrace. Dryden.
  5. 6.To accept; to undergo; to submit to. "I embrace this fortune patiently." Shak.
  6. 7.(Law) To attempt to influence corruptly, as a jury or court. Blackstone.
  7. 8.Intimate or close encircling with the arms; pressure to the bosom; clasp; hug. We stood tranced in long embraces, Mixed with kisses. Tennyson.

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